The Philadelphia Flyers officially announced they signed forward Travis Konecny to an 8-year contract worth $70 million – an $8.75 million AAV – and while many were rejoicing in Daniel Brière’s exploits, many more seemed annoyed, angry, and frustrated by contract.
Konecny’s initial ask was reportedly $10 million per season, which was a number that always seemed unrealistic. For a rebuilding club, signing anyone to an 8-year deal is probably a no-no, and many are concerned that the deal will age poorly by the time he reaches 31-32 years of age. All the while carrying an $8.75 million cap hit when salary cap efficiency has always been an error of judgment by the organization.
Flyers’ Non-Traditional Rebuild
However, there are several layers to this deal that starts with their definition of a rebuild.
I never felt the Flyers were going to be in store for a traditional rebuild, especially from the verbiage that have been uttered by Dan Hilferty, Keith Jones, John Tortorella, and Brière. That’s not to say the Flyers have abandoned their rebuild attempts, it’s just not the type of rebuild many were thinking of or hoping for – akin to what the Chicago Blackhawks have been doing over the last few years.
After attempting to re-tool on the fly by acquiring Marc-André Fleury and Seth Jones, the Blackhawks floundered almost immediately and decided to wave the white flag. They ended up essentially getting rid of everyone outside of Jones – mostly due to his contract and NMC – including young cornerstones Kirby Dach and Alex DeBrincat. They entered the 2022 NHL Entry Draft with 0 picks in the first round and ended the night having made 3 choices.
If the Flyers were operating like the Blackhawks then we would’ve already seen players like Scott Laughton, Travis Sanheim, and even Joel Farabee moved. Players like Konecny would most likely have been on the move as well, let alone not even having contract negotiations on the table, and the Flyers would have a roster akin to an AHL team but picks and prospects stacked up as high as the Statue of Liberty.
The Blackhawks have so far come out of it with flying colours with a prospect pool that features players like Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Kevin Korchinski, Artyom Levshunov, and of course the golden ticket in Connor Bedard. They tanked, they tore down their NHL roster, endured some of the worst seasons in franchise history but have the prospects to make it all worthwhile.
Conversely, the Flyers have chosen a slightly different path to building the club back up from the dead with their core representing NHL-ready players either entering their prime or having just entered their prime with the likes of Owen Tippett, Cam York, Sanheim, and Konecny among others. However they also have prospects in Matvei Michkov, Oliver Bonk, and Denver Barkey, who should all make a difference down the road.
The biggest problem with this rebuild attempt is that they will never be bad enough to draft in the top-3, let alone top-5, and at the same time they won’t be good enough to make a real playoff push – keeping them closer to purgatory than heaven or hell. Picks in the 8-13 range can always work out like gangbusters but obviously you want to be able to pick potential generational talents in 1-3 range like a Bedard or a Macklin Celebrini.
In saying all that, the Flyers’ vision is relatively clear. Their core is taking shape and Konecny is expected to be a key factor from this point onward.
Market Value Dictates All
As for the details of his contract, it’s a mixed bag from the fan base to say the least. Handing out the maximum 8-years to anyone not named Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon is always risky business but to shave off some of the AAV, players will generally take the security of possessing more term. If Konecny was to hit the open market, there’s almost no doubt in my mind he would have received something a lot more gargantuan, at least in the $9 million range at the bare minimum.
The open market is a dangerous gamble and we saw just this month what happens when the salary cap rises and middling teams want to contend as soon as possible. Chandler Stephenson received a 7-year deal worth $6.25 million a season and while he’s a solid middle of the lineup centre, that’s definitely an overpay.
Looking ahead at the 2025 free agent crop, Konecny would’ve been the second best forward available behind Mitch Marner – under the assumption that Sidney Crosby and Mikko Rantanen re-up with their respective clubs. Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs could be looking at a split but his asking price would push most teams away and they would then have turned their attention towards the more “affordable” Konecny. Under that guise, both parties probably felt the same way, and found a happy medium, which ended up being $8.75 million per season.
As things currently stand, Konecny has the 23rd highest cap hit for a forward in 2025-26 as he is sandwiched in between Timo Meier‘s 8.8 million and Dylan Larkin‘s $8.7 million. Ahead of Konecny are the likes of Mathew Barzal ($9.15 million), Jake Guentzel ($9 million), and Kirill Kaprizov ($9 million). Directly below Konecny are Patrik Laine ($8.7 million), Sam Reinhart ($8.625 million), and 5 players tied at $8.5 million in Bo Horvat, Filip Forsberg, Mark Schiefele, Mika Zibanejad, and Pierre-Luc Dubois.
The market dictates everything and that’s the case with all sports. You look at the NFL for example and the quarterback market is a complete mess. Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love just signed a contract that makes him the highest paid in NFL history. While it is true that he had a great season, it was just his first after years as Aaron Rodgers’ backup, but because he was next in line for an extension, the market dictated that kind of money. This also coming mere hours after Miami Dolphins starter Tua Tagovailoa was paid a contract that made him the highest paid – which was rather short-lived.
The same principle can be applied to the NHL but at a much smaller scale. Meier might have the be the most perfect comparable for Konecny and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he essentially earned the same deal. Drafted within the same class, their numbers since they’ve entered the league have been relatively similar, especially over the last few seasons.
In 564 career games, Konecny has 174 goals and 400 points compared to Meier’s 191 goals and 382 points in 541 games played. In the last 3 seasons, Meier has 103 goals and 194 points in 224 games compared to Konecny’s 80 goals and 181 points in 215 games. Even going back as far as the last 2 seasons, Meier has 68 goals and 118 points in 147 games compared to Konecny’s 64 goals and 129 points in 136 games.
Some of the other names listed above; Horvat has 102 goals and 190 points in 230 games over this last 3 seasons, Dubois has 71 goals and 163 points in 236 games played, Barzal has 52 goals and 190 points in 211 games played, and Scheifele scored 96 goals and 210 points in 222 games. The market was essentially set by Meier but there were plenty of other comparable contracts that have been signed in recent years that probably aided both sides in finding the middle ground.
It should also be noted that some of the superior players like Zibanejad and Kaprizov signed their respective contracts 3-4 years ago when the salary cap was stagnant and there was no end in sight to the horrors that COVID-19 laid upon the NHL. Then you have a player like Reinhart who would have commanded 10 million on the open market but because of the luxury of state taxes, Florida was able to get a steal on his deal.
In terms of market value, Konecny has found himself in good company, where at worst you could make the argument that the Flyers overpaid by $750,000 per season.
Was Signing Konecny Necessary?
This might be the most important question because the answer would give you a better insight on how the Flyers expect to trudge through their supposed rebuild.
We’ve already discussed how they aren’t operating under the guise of a traditional rebuild, where a player like Konecny would have been traded for assets by now. This summer would have been high-time to make such a blockbuster move with just one year remaining on his current contract, having just come off a career-season, and recording back-to-back 30-goal campaigns against all odds.
However, if we have learned one thing about the new regime, it’s that they won’t be making a move for the sake of change; there has to be a reason to move on from a certain player on their roster. They have held onto Laughton for dear life despite the incessant interest coming from more than half the league and they’ve even rejected trade offers that could’ve netted them a first round pick.
Conversely, they moved on from Cam Atkinson because they needed cap relief this season and a less crowded winger-corps for Michkov. The Flyers have also taken the burden with salary retention on Kevin Hayes and dead cap on Tony DeAngelo due to their tenuous relationship with the head coach and needing more roster space for other players to grow. Moves like these have left the fan base questioning their motives because when they’re supposed to zig, they zag, and when they’re supposed to zag, they zig.
It looks like Brière and Jones are looking to build their core with NHL-ready players who are entering their primes either now or very shortly. There are still a few question marks surrounding some key components like Farabee and Morgan Frost but for the most part they are moving forward with Konecny, Tippett, Sanheim, York, Michkov, and Tyson Foerster. Frost will become an RFA at the end of the year and will be due for his third contract in 4 years, whereas Farabee will be entering the third year of a 6-year deal despite being mentioned in trade rumours this summer.
It doesn’t look like the most inspiring core but the 2024-25 season is going to be vitally important as they look to make some headway. If players like Frost and Farabee stumble out of the gates, they are more or less done in the Orange and Black by season’s end. Then you have players like York and Foerster who need new contracts and dependent on how they show out in this season, they could be long-term deals as well, primarily York.
The one thing going their way is that they have one of the youngest rosters in the NHL with a lot of their players jumbled within the 22-26 age-range, which is exactly where you want to be at this moment. Despite Konecny turning 28 years old in March of 2025, he will be entering his prime and it might be a year or two sooner than they Flyers are ready to admit, which could be a problem. However, almost every contending team has important pieces within the 30-32 age range that are still productive, so when the Flyers are ready to make some noise, Konecny should still be young enough to be leading the way without age being a factor.
Things would be a whole lot easier if the Flyers had a more stable centre corps or at least burgeoning prospects ready to take flight this year. It would certainly soften the blow – of his contract extension – a little bit but they’re essentially running it back with the same team + Michkov. A 5 or 6-year deal would have probably benefitted the club a lot more if they wanted to keep him around but it’s widely understood that most franchise cornerstones will receive the 8-years. Konecny might not be your typical cornerstone but he has produced admirably over the last few years and seems to only be getting better under John Tortorella.
If they can ever figure out their dastardly power play, Konecny’s 68 points should eclipse 80 without a shadow of a doubt. 52 of his 68 points came while playing even-strength hockey and he almost had as many shorthanded points (7) as he did with the extra man (9). The numbers don’t stick out like they should but even-strength production is way more valuable than scoring with the man advantage. 2024-25 could be a big year if Rocky Thompson can figure out the kinks to his bottomed out power play and Konecny would be one of the many beneficiaries.
In totality, the contract is fair and probably a little less than what he would’ve received on the open market. Was it something the Flyers needed to do? Traditionally speaking, no, because you would want to recoup as many top-end assets as possible, but the Flyers aren’t operating that way, nor will they change their flight path in the next coming seasons either. It might be disappointing to some, but the possibility of a teardown rebuild has officially been squashed with Konecny’s extension now officially in the books.
